Snooker star 'betrayed' by match-fixing allegations

The Scot said in a statement yesterday that the past few days had been "emotionally draining for me and my family".

He said: "In the last week I have experienced a whole range of emotions: despair, frustration, anger, rage and most of all a sense of betrayal."

Higgins was filmed by undercover News of the World reporters who have accused him of match-fixing.

He said he believed the meeting with the journalists was to arrange a series of tournaments in the Ukraine.

Yesterday, the newspaper reported that he had tried to bet against himself in last year's World Championship final.

In the statement, the 34-year-old said that he is a director of World Series Snooker which has been working to expand the sport into new markets.

He said that he met representatives from a company called Alpha Equity on April 29 this year to explore possibilities in the Ukraine.

Mr Higgins said: "Over the last three years I spent a lot of my time and effort to expand snooker into new territories. I wanted to take the magic of snooker to towns, cities and countries where people had only ever seen snooker on television.

"I wanted to act as an ambassador to spread that magic of snooker throughout the world. Despite the events of last week, it is something I believe in from the bottom of my heart."

The three-times world champion is subject to disciplinary proceedings by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association over the allegations.

He said: "In the proceedings I will vigorously defend my name. As you will appreciate, I cannot comment on details that may impact on these disciplinary matters.

"I have been accused in the media of cheating; I have been accused of planning to fix snooker matches. To both of those charges, I am 100 per cent innocent.

"Snooker is my life. Snooker has been good to me and I hope that over the years I have been good for snooker.

Mr Higgins went on: "I will not allow anyone to damage my hard-earned reputation. I will clear my name. I am determined of that."

The News of the World quoted a unnamed former Ladbrokes employee who claimed Higgins had tried to bet against himself in the world championship final versus Shaun Murphy.

She took advice from a manager and the bet was turned down.